The book – ‘ For boys who went by the revolutionary poet Adedayo Adeyemi is a mind thriller!
If you’re a lover of all things poetry, and enjoy deep-insightful lines and lyrics, then I recommend this as a must read for you.
He started out poetry in the year 2013 and has won lots of contests since then ,both home and abroad.
Adedayo Adeyemi is a force to reckon with in the landscape of Nigerian poetry. Walls of Ibadan happens to be an IG page where he shares his photographs as He’s also a Docu-Photographer.
He is the poet whose voice is moving a great poetic revolution at the moment. His poems cheer the uniqueness of the boy child, projects the struggles he is faced with in a glaring light and paves a way of escape for him.
If we could suggest an alternative title for this book following the order of the famous anthology titled ‘Her’ by Pierre Jeanty, we would title this ‘Him’.
This anthology would make you question and ponder on salient truths that have long been ignored. It’s a combination of various experiences that boys over time are acquainted with and have experienced, groaning in silence.
MMM INTERVIEWER
What’s the main inspiration behind the title ‘For boys who went’
ADEDAYO ADEYEMI
For boys who went is a collection of personal poems. Often times, I get into conversation with people who feel the boy child should be strong and courageous and all but the circle is broken. Our fathers died of silence.
The boy child can be weak too. The boy child can be depressed. The boy child can be heart broken. Yearly, the world spends billions on empowering the girl child [this is not a competition] but a call that draws attention to the neglect of the boy child.
MMM INTERVIEWER
Which poem proved the hardest to draft and why?
ADEDAYO ADEYEMI
Timeline.
I invested so much time reading the Nigerian history. I wanted to have fun piling history in one poem. It was fun writing it anyway.
MMM INTERVIEWER
Which is your favourite poem?
ADEDAYO ADEYEMI
Pilgrimage.
It told my story in 3 lines.
MMM INTERVIEWER
How would you describe your STYLE of poetry in simple terms?
ADEDAYO ADEYEMI
Actually ehn, I am a very truthful person. Truthful to my emotions, truthful to my feelings, truthful to my poetry.
So each time, I let my consciousness rule my subconsciousness, I take a poem by the wrist and write.
But then, I find myself in my sincerity. I find out that I write my poems in distinct manners, then people begin to identify me with those manners.
Only people can best describe my style. I am just an Ibadan poet trying to make sense.
MMM INTERVIEWER
How do you come up with IDEAS for your poems? Where do you draw your inspiration?
ADEDAYO ADEYEMI
I read but dank, it is the music I listen to, the movies I watch, the conversations I have, the interviews I see that gets me boiling,sets me on fire. Books are places I run to when the world is boring and heavy.
MMM INTERVIEWER
You have a poet whose work you admire on Facebook, who is that?
ADEDAYO ADEYEMI
D.M. Aderibigbe.
MMM INTERVIEWER
Finally, what impact do you always seek to create in the mind of your readers when you write your poems?
ADEDAYO ADEYEMI
I just want people to read me. A bunch of writers shred their skin in an attempt to please their readers, but nah. I can be randy, I can be crazy, I can be anything but whatever you find in my poem is an ounce or a truth that I carry.
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